Rack for television picture tube



Feb. 14, 1961 s. TERMAN RACK FOR TELEVISION PICTURE TUBE Filed Feb. 3, 1958 I NVE NTOR SYDN Y TERMAN United States Fatent O 2,971,757 RACK FOR TELEVISION PICTURE TUBE Sydney Terman, 5643 W. North Ave., Chicago, 111. Filed Feb. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 712,751

1 Claim. (Cl. 269163) This invention relates to a rack for supporting a television picture tube in a horizontal position during storage for servicing of the same.

A cathode ray tube, or television picture tube as it is more commonly known, is a highly fragile piece of equipment. Breakage of a tube often results in an implosion which is dangerous. A cathode ray tube placed upon a shelf or table may through carelessness, be inadvertently pushed aside or bumped, which may result 'in breakage to the tube as it strikes surrounding objects or falls from the shelf or table.

In testing or servicing of television sets it often be- .comes desirable or necessary to remove the television picture tube from the mounting of the cabinet of the television set and to support the same in a horizontal position for testing, where the front face of the tube is visible. Heretofore, difficulty has been encountered in safely supporting the tube when removed from its normal mounting, and particularly so where the tube is to be .substantial portion of the weight of the tubes or withstand substantial shocks.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a cathode ray tube support rack which safely supports the tube on its side. It is another one of the objects of this invention to provide a rack which supports a cathode ray tube on its side, including support surfaces both for the wide end of the tube and for the neck, the support for the neck being such that the neck does not carry any substantial part of the weight of the tube.

It is still a further one of the objects of this invention to provide a rack for supporting a cathode ray tube which rack is made of a rigid wire-rod construction which is insulated in those areas likely to become in contact with dangerously high voltages.

It is another one of the objects of this invention to provide a rack for cathode ray tubes having any one or all of the aforementioned advantages, which is rugged, light in weight, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention together with a description of a preferred embodiment thereof may be obtained from the specification to follow, taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a rack constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rack of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation of the rack of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the rack, taken along section line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

2,971,751 Patented Feb. 14,1931

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 shows a fragmentary portion of a modified construction.

Reference may now be had to-the drawings wherein like reference characters indicate like elements through out.

As shown therein, the rack is of a wire-rod construction having an elevated base 3 supported upon leg pieces 4, 5 and 6, and a saddle piece 7 which provides support for the narrow end or neck 8 of the cathode ray tube 9 shown in dotted lines.

The elevated base 3 of the rack is constructed of a single piece of rigid, wire-rod bent into a generally elongated rectangular shape, the ends of the wire-rod being welded or otherwise secured together to form a continuous rectangular base. The base 3 has a pair of spaced, longitudinal parallel sides 1111, and a transverse end 12 joining the corresponding ends of the side 11-11. The opposite ends of the longitudinal-sides 11-41 terminate in short, upwardly extending, portions 13-13 which are joined at their tops by an end portion 14 extending at right angles to the longitudinal sides. The end portion 14 of the support frame forms a retaining lip or retaining wall means for preventing the wide end of the picture tube 9 from slipping ofi the end of the rack.

The leg pieces 4 and 5 are similarly shaped wire-rod members and each includes a horizontal frame bracing.

portion 16 or 17, having a length which is greater than the spacing of the base sides 1111, and short legs 1S18 or 19-19 depending and angling outward from the ends of the horizontal intermediate portions 16 or 17. Rubber caps 19 cover the bottom of the legs. The leg piece 4 is secured at one end'of the rectangular base 3 by welding or otherwise securing the ends of the intermediate portion 16 thereof to the bottom of the base sides 11-11. In a similar manner, the other leg piece 5 is secured to the base 3 by welding or otherwise securing the ends of the horizontal intermediate portion 17 thereof to the bottom of the middle portion of the sides 1111. The horizontal intermediate portion 16 and 17 of the leg .pieces 4 and 5 thus brace and increase the rigidity of the rack structure.

The saddle forming portion 7 is formed integrally with the leg piece 6. A single piece of wire-rod is bent to form the U-shaped or saddle portion 7 in the middle of the wire rod piece, and the vertical sides 2l-2tl extending downwardly from saddle portion 7 are bent inwardly at their bottom ends to form curved legs 21-21. The sides 20-29 of the combined leg and saddle forming piece are spaced apart a distance substantially less than the length of the transverse end 12 of the rectangular base support 3, and is secured on the outside thereof by welding or other means at points 23-23 and 24-24 at the inner ends of the wire-rod piece 6 and at the vertical sides 20-20.

The bottom of the leg pieces 4, 5 and 6 are, of course, in the same plane, and when the rack is supported thereon, the rectangu'ar base 3 is in an elevated horizontal plane. The saddle portion 7 of the rack is elevated a substantial distance above the horizontal rectangular base 3 so that the necks of the cathode ray tube 9 supported on its side on the rack will not support a substantial portion of the weight of the tube. In one example, the bottom saddle portion 7 was spaced 5% inches from the top of the horizontal support frame piece 3.

The wire-rod construction of the horizontal rectangular piece 3 provides clearance spaces such as 25 and 26 into which the curved bottom portion of a tube may extend so that the rack cradles the tube to support the same against lateral movement relative to the rack. As previously stated, the end portion 14 of the support frame crustation over-the wire rods.

piece 3 being elevated somewhat above the base sides 1111 will prevent appreciable longitudinal movement of the tube relative to therack, preventing slippage of the tube off the end of the rack.

The entire rack is dipped into a bath of insulating ma- ;terial which is in a liquid or semi-liquid stage, such as neoprene, or other rubber or a rubber-like plastic (polyethylene by way of exampe) which coats the wire rods making up the rack with a layer of insulating material and which dries or sets to form a soft coating or en- In this manner the metal portions of the rack are not exposed and the, danger of electrical shocks to persons touching the rack is minimized and the danger of scratching and mechanically injuring the tube is also reduced. 7

At certain places on the rack there may be positioned 1ongitudinally split collars or tubes of cushioning material which may also be insulating material. This is illus- 7 treated by collars 2929 on the longitudinal sides l1-11 of the base and a collar 29' on the saddle 7. These collars provide additional cushioning for the picture tube and also provide additional insulation between the tube and the rack.

The rack shown in Fig. 6 differs from that of Figs. 1 through essentially in that here the saddle piece 30 is adjustable as to height, and in this instance is removably secured to the base 3 instead of being welded thereto.

The saddle piece in this instance comprises an upper and two lower parts. The upper part 31 consists of a single wire bent to provide a pair of parallel wire lengths or arms 3232 joined by a curved saddle portion 33 on Iwhich is placed a length of rubber, neoprene or the like in the form of a split tube or collar 29'.

The arms 3232 are longitudinally slidable in two tubular uprights 35-35 and are secured in adjusted position by threaded wing screws 3737 that thread into tapped bores in the uprights 35-35 and bear against the arms 3232. Each of the uprights 35-35 has a .V-shaped bend formed at the bottom to form the legs 21-41, and 18 secured to the rack proper by a pair of screws 39-39. By this arrangement the saddle piece 30 may be removed from the base of the rack to facilitate shipment or storage of the rack and readily reassembled thereon when needed. In lieu of the screws securing the present invention is rugged, compact, light in weight and relatively inexpensive to fabricate.

It shou d be understood that numerous modifications may be made of the preferred embodiment of the invention above described without deviating from the broader aspects of the invention. What is considered new and sought to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A rack for a television picture tube having a curved bottom and a neck, said rack comprising: a one-piece elongated rectangular, horizontally oriented, wire-rod, tube support base frame having spaced, longitudinal sides in the same horizontal plane for cradling the curved bottom of a picture tube, a transverse end joining one of the ends of said longitudinal sides, the opposite ends of said longitudinal sides terminating in short, upwardly-extending portions which are joined at their tops by a horizontal end portion extending at right angles to and above said longitudinal sides to act as an end retaining means for preventing a picture tube supported by said longitudinal sides from slipping off the end of the rack; a pair of one-piece. wire-rod, leg-forming pieces for elevating said tube support frame and supporting the same in said horizontal position, said leg-forming pieces each having a horizontal frame bracing portion from theends of which depend legs, the frame bracing portion of .one of said leg-forming pieces secured to and beneath corresponding ends of said longitudinal base frame sides, the frame bracing portions of the other leg-forming piece secured to and below the central portion of said base frame; and a one-piece, wire-rod, saddle and leg-forming means having upstanding sides secured to the base frame at the end thereof opposite to the end having said retaining means, said upstanding sides extending below said base frame to form support legs, the bottoms of which are in the same plane as the legs of the other of said legforming pieces, said upstanding sides extending above said base frame and the top thereof and terminating in a downwardly bent portion forming an open-top saddle for supporting the neck of a television picture tube, the bottom of said saddle being spaced substantially above said tube support frame; and the otherwise exposed metal portion of said rack being coated with an insulating material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,215 McClure Jan. 15, 1924 2.484345 Heinz Oct. ll, 1949 2,606,241 Steinke Aug. 5, 1952 2.742.635 Capps Apr. 17, 1956 2,743, 35 Wayne Apr. 24, 1956 2,825,477 Ross Mar. 4, 1958 

